New Years Eve Gala Dinner in the Grand Hotel, San Marino

Basics

• Our Childs Age: 3-4

• Suitable For: Excellent for new-borns and baby's, good for under 5's, maybe boring for older children

• Cost: 2023

  • 800 Euro for double room with travel bed/crib, 2 adults and a child, view to Rimini and the sea, breakfast, for 5 nights (160 a night)

  • 240 Euro for Gala dinner, including drinks for 2 adults and a 3 year old child

  • Total package cost for 5 nights with the New Year celebration 1,040 Euro

• Free parking

Getting There

Getting there is not so easy. Ideally you need a car. You can fly to Rimini or Bologna, these would be the closest, however Venice or Milan could be options as well for better connections, you’ll have a bit of a drive, but it is manageable. You could try and do it all with public transport, I would recommend renting a car though, it also gives you freedom when there to look around. Driving here is ok, and parking seemed fine.

San Marino General

San Marino is a tiny Republic / Country. It is the 5th smallest country in the world, completely surrounded by Italy. They speak Italian and use the Euro. I am rude to say this, but you could say it is more a region in Italy rather than another country. From our time there, it is clean, safe, and well organised. If you are into history, it has quite an interesting story. Imagine this tiny country, land locked by Italy existing throughout all the empires and conquerors and still existing as a Republic to this day - quite remarkable.

The first thing that surprised us when crossing the border into San Marino, was how uninspiring and dull it looked. Crossing the border, you see a very normal, modern, practical, rather than pretty place, quite uninviting really. I think we expected a grand ancient city, or a mega affluent exclusive feel to the place – it was not the case. And the second thing, we were surprised about, is how big it is. Both of course are due to having a preconceived image of the place, an expectation.

San Marino is quite large, we crossed the border on the Rimini Road. From the border you follow a winding road up, up and up, for about 30-45 minutes. It is here that the country rather fits our expectation. Once on top of the hill or mountain, in the Capital, the old town and historic center. It perfectly fitted our expectation.

The old city and origins of the country, are built on a hill/mountain. It is here you find the old buildings, the fortified wall and the famous 3 towers. With a splendid view all the way down to the coast and to Rimini (on a clear day).

It is not an expensive place, but possibly fractionally more than the surrounding Italy, but really, not noticeably.

The Hotel

We stayed at the Grand Hotel San Marino. I tell everyone it's the best hotel in San Marino, and it possibly is. There may be one other fancy place which pips it, but I believe we stayed in the best place. It's not expensive – 160 Euro a night for the 3 of us, including breakfast and a room with view down to Rimini.

The old town and historic center is built really on a sort of vertical face of the mountain, once you get up to this part of the country, the roads are narrow. The Grand Hotel is on the road just at a city gate, if you are quick, willing to bend the rules a little and tolerate a few beeps, I think you can off-load the car here at the entrance and have your family wait with the luggage. To park you need to follow the road round, up and behind the hotel along a short single-track piece of road to car park P7. It is a short walk down from the car park back to the hotel entrance. I have said the hotel is on the road, just to point out, that the part of road that the hotel is on, only leads to the car park, it’s not a busy road, cars are not keeping you awake all night.

A couple of bits of information. San Marino is a day trip destination it seems, probably tourists staying in Rimini. While we were there, from I suppose 10 ish in the morning until 4 or 5 ish in the evening, the car park was busy. Outside of those times, the car park is quite empty. The hotel will give you exit cards, so you do not need to pay to get out. You sometimes need to push the buzzer at the gate and explain you are a guest; it all works well. The car park does have some E-charging points if you have an E-car. Its open air and open 24/7.

The hotel, essentially only has one side. I mentioned our room having a view, well to my knowledge, they all do. If the rooms were not to view down to the sea, the alternative would be the rock face behind. It is really built on the side of a mountain. Not in any extreme way like some crazy google image you may see, you won’t be falling off the side or anything, but still, the back wall is the mountain.

Once we checked in, we follow our standard procedure, out comes the plastic tree, we set it up and hang our Christmas cards to ensure the Christmas feel is in our home from home for the next few days.

The room was nice, not massive but a fair size. At the time, our son could still fit in a travel bed, he would have been 3 nearly 4 years old. Typically, he was too big for a cot at home, but height wise it did still work. We had our double bed, and his, hotel provided, travel bed, we had enough space and room for us all. I don’t know what rooms would have been available for families with bigger children or more than one kid, maybe they do have rooms with a small bed or sofa bed, you must check this if needed.

Breakfast in the hotel was fine. I wouldn’t say it was extensive or amazing. Nothing wrong with it. Mainly continental style, dried meats, cheeses, breads and pastries with a couple of hot dishes like eggs and sausages.

It's called the Grand Hotel, and is likely the best hotel in San Marino, it is not a super fancy elite and exclusive hotel with all the bells and whistles, it is an older hotel which is very nice, but without some of the extras you would get in more modern hotels. I don’t want to come across as negative, I am just trying to paint an honest picture of the place. For me, it was a very nice hotel, good rooms, great view, prime location. It is a historic hotel. We would stay here again.

San Marino

When I talk or use the term San Marino, I am really talking about the old historic tourist center. Which is quite a small area, and built over several levels, being on varying steepness slopes, with small but perhaps energetic climbs to certain areas. We didn’t have a push chair, but I recall it would have been no issue to have one there.

The old town is this terraced type stone town. Like the hotel, mostly it is one sided, you have the path, the building, and the back end of that building is likely to be the mountain face. They seem to have a fascination with hunting in this area, as several of the shops had hunting equipment. You can roam around the streets and look around. The Christmas markets were still open, but I wouldn’t really call them Christmas markets. They were that kind of wooden stands, looking the part, selling some bits and pieces, many selling food and drink, a few selling gifts. The stands are just there, scattered about, it's not a dense market.

If you walk to the other end of town from our hotel, you reach a cable car that takes you down below. We did make this journey, as our son likes cable cars. At the bottom there is a small village, not much to see or do in this village in fairness, it is very limited, but for the ride it is nice. Back up the top of the cable car in San Marino Old Town, there are very nice views over the endless countryside. Heading round following the wall and going down the slope, back towards the hotel, from there, you will see a small ice skating rink they have in place for Christmas as well as more market stalls.

Mainly, in San Marino, it is wondering around, seeing the sites, taking in the vibe, and looking out at the view of the countryside, you get great views from the elevated perspective. There is not loads to do here. They have some shops, bars, restaurants. Up by the car park P7 where we parked was a circus tent and here, they had an entertainments program for the kids, including shows and chocolate making, colouring etc, you could just drop in, we didn’t have to book or pay.

At the tourist office, you can pass by and pay 5 Euro to have a stamp in your passport. It means nothing I know. But why wouldn’t you? We all like to see a passport with pages full of stamps, don’t we? And this one is rare. I suppose most of us don’t know too many people who have visited San Marino.

The main thing I would say to do in San Marino is to walk the upper city wall and visit the 3 towers. The 3 towers are the towers on their flag. It is only really from these towers and the wall you get a view of the other side of the mountain, the side not facing down to the coast. It is not a very strenuous walk, a couple of steep bits but taking it slowly is fine. 2 of the towers are easy to reach and the third a bit more ‘off piste’, and perhaps more of a challenge if you were to try with a push chair.

Around

Rimini

The obvious choice is to visit Rimini. There must be public transport options to get there. We had a car so didn’t research any bus or train routes. You can see Rimini from the old down, basically speaking you just point the car downhill and it will take you straight there. Practically speaking that’s not the case. Do watch out for speed cameras as there are a couple on that road down.

Rimini is a famous beach resort, I think the young ones like it in summer for the sun and the parties. It does appear to have a very long, wide, white sand beach, with bars and clubs a way back from it. Having seen it, myself and girlfriend were actually put off of visiting in summer, it didn’t look like it was for us or a summer destination we would enjoy.

It's quite a big place, and you could say it’s sort of 2 halves. You have the sea and beach, the summer holiday destination part. Going at the end of December, you can imagine, it’s not full of sun loungers and beach volleyball. It’s ok to take a look and have a walk on the beach. The road, which is some way back from the sea (as it is a very wide beach), has one hotel after the other, bars and restaurants, some open, most shut, it’s the time of year.

Where the river joins the sea, there was a Christmas circus which looked nice for the kids to go and enjoy. Walking along the beach you will find the square or park – Parco Federico Fellini, where Rimini New Year Celebrations take place. It’s a nice park. I guess they have a concert and some fireworks.

During our stay, being in San Marino at the top of the mountain we were often above the fog and cloud, which at the time of year seems to frequently cover the low land towards Rimini. It's a pretty view looking out from San Marino to the fog, cloud and country below. Gives a peaceful picturesque spooky view. And several times throughout our stay, when we had Rimini covered in cloud, we saw this huge tower block popping above the clouds, it was the only landmark for us to identify where Rimini was. Between the sea and Rimini old town is the ugliest, most out of place sky rise building! I have no idea how it appeared there; I suspect some form of governmental corruption from the 50s. The city is built with 2 or 3 story buildings, everything is plus or minus the same height, mostly standard buildings that don’t catch your eye neither do they offend. Then, there is this thing, ‘Grattacielo di Rimini’. You will need to see it to believe it. Ugly, old, dirty, possibly governmental housing apartment block, sticking out like a sore thumb, towering right smack in the middle of the city.

Ignoring that monstrosity. The walk from the beach, along the river to the old town is nice. And the old town does save the city for me. The old town, city center, is old and the attractive part, with a big square, statues, typically what you expect in Italy. This was a nice place, bustling with life, worth a stop for drink and food, we had a nice meal here in town. The beach and rest of the town was unappealing for me, but the old town and historic center was beautiful, and I was pleased to be here and spend some time.

That was just our opinion mind. I do still suggest going to have a look and a beach front walk to judge for yourselves, you may love it.

Urbino

Urbino is at least an hour drive from San Marino. As the crow flies it must be very close, but by the time you take the winding road down off of the San Marino Mountain and continue on the winding route to Urbino, it is slow going and technical driving, not dangerous, but you are driving rather than cruising. You find yourself questioning your studies – “I was always taught Romans built straight roads?”. I would guess Urbino is not easy to reach on public transport from San Marino.

Going here is totally worth the effort.

The drive there gives incredible views and picture opportunities over the Italian landscape, it's not a busy route and stopping on the roadside for pictures is possible, do be careful though, just watch out for cyclists (yes there are people mad enough to cycle mountain winding roads in December), and of course other cars. Pullover safely and look around before opening the door.

Urbino, according to my Italian friends, is a famous university town. They tell me its famous for its historic roots and the parties. The famous - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle – Raphael… of course I jest. The famous painter – Raphael, is from Urbino.

You will arrive in town and should park at Mercatale, from here head to the information point and an elevator or staircase will take you up to the old town and center. It’s a beautiful town, as with most towns you can just walk around, taking it all in. You will arrive and walk along the Ducal Palace to Piazza Della Republica. In Urbino, you really just meander around the streets, see the cathedral, the shops, sights and have some food and drinks, enjoying the vibe.

Following the streets up and up, you will eventually find a nice park with decent views of the city, Fortezza Albornoz. This is good place to relax and enjoy the view. If you get to the back of the park, away from the city, you will find a staircase leading down to the street, when we went down to this street, there was a market of sorts going on, no idea if its daily or set days. Follow this road off to the left along the street Via Fratelli Rosselli and you have the most amazing panoramic view of the city, as the local who directed us here told us, it’s the best view of the town.

New Years Eve

We had our Gala dinner and New Years program included with our package, well itemised separately but we reserved at the same time. It was 120 Euro per adult, it was meant to be 50 Euro for the child, but we had the deal confirmed that our child was free. Probably, that would have been a deal breaker for us. 240 Euro for the 2 adults and a child was manageable. If we had to pay 50 to 100 extra for one or two children, I am not sure we would have done it. I would hope the hotel review and consider the 50 Euro for a child policy. This price is fair enough for teenagers who will eat and are appreciating fancier dishes, but for toddlers and infants who would enjoy a bowl of tomato pasta costing a Euro or two, it is a little unfair and pricey for the parents to pick up.

We had entertainment, an apero to start, followed by dinner and then the disco dance after midnight, with all drinks included. We were in the best hotel in San Marino, on New Years Eve. I do realise that maybe it is a bit costly for some. Though we are coming from an expensive country and for us, the 240 Euro with all that we got, we found the price quite reasonable.

So, what exactly did we get?

Well, the apero started at 19:45. That was quite late for us, more for our son. We are used to eating earlier. The evening was going to be long to see in the New Year and to make it past midnight, so we made provisions to allow it to work, ie an afternoon nap for us all. The apero in the hotel lobby and what was usually the breakfast room, had a guy and a girl playing music and singing, prosecco was flowing, soft drinks for the children, and they had very nice finger food, including oysters, cheese wrapped roast beef parcels, and other small nibbles. This lasted an hour, as people began to arrive and get ready for the evening.

At 9 ish, we were shown to our tables, and an army of staff catered for our needs, it was a table service setting. Wine was served by the bottle and of your choosing, including bubbles, white and red. For the adults, we had 7 courses. The children had 5 course – which is incredible. For the adults it was fish and fruit de mer orientated. They had other dishes, it was fancy, high-class dishes mainly of fish or sea creatures. The children, among their 5 courses, had steak as the main dish. And throughout the evening the same guy and girl from the apero were playing live music in the background.

Ignoring it was New Years Eve, for the food we had, as well as the wine being served on demand, we would have paid a lot more than we did for the same where we live, then factor in its New Years Eve in a fancy hotel, plus all the extras like apero and entertainment, it was well worth it.

The dessert was served at about 23:30. This is where it could have been done better. The dessert by the way was amazing, no issue with that. But it seemed as if there were no plans to count down and see in midnight. No poppers on the table, silly hats – I know, I know, it’s a classy hotel and all that riff raff is for elsewhere, but still, I like it!

Once I realised nothing was going on, I grabbed a bottle of bubbles and the 3 of us went outside to see in the 1st of January. Hoping there would be fireworks in San Marino, there were none. We half expected this, as we spoke to locals earlier in the day, who said they used to have them, but for a number of years had stopped it. It didn’t prevent us doing our own count down, and with a few other folks out on the street, popping the cork and celebrating midnight. We could see the night sky light up as the Italians from the border to the coast below us, were setting off their fireworks. After toasting, celebrating and seeing the fireworks in the distance, we returned to the hotel. By this time, the crowd had progressed from the dining room, back into the room where we had the apero, for the nighttime disco and buffet. As I am sure you know, with a child getting to half 12 is already quite a feat, it was bedtime for us all, leaving Wham behind, we went to the room for a well-deserved sleep.

Conclusion

While we had our dinner and gala package in the same hotel we stayed, wondering around town, it seemed like many restaurants and fancy establishments in the town essentially offered very much the same at the same price, it was all quite standard by the seems of it. If you do go and stayed in another hotel, you will have the same format dinner and package at almost anywhere in town. Also worth pointing out, not everyone at our dinner was staying in the hotel, they had dinner only guests as well. Therefore, you could stay elsewhere and still book a dinner slot in the Grand Hotel.

San Marino was a nice break and we enjoyed spending New Years Eve here, we did find the price reasonable and it was good value for what we had. San Marino is worth a look, it has a small novelty factor in ticking off another country perhaps few have been to. Children are warmly welcome. Ours was quite small and young at the time, so was happy to be with mum and dad. During the NYE dinner he also found another child of a similar age and they were chatting and playing together. The nature of the NYE dinner being a sort of more fancy sit down and a long dining experience with background music, I would say older children may be a little bored. The town and things to do at this time of year, it is mainly sightseeing, so could also be a bit mundane for the older kids. The hotel did not have a pool and there wasn’t really any energy draining, children occupying events.

It was perfect for us with a 3 nearly 4 year old. With more than 1 child, and/or ages of perhaps 6 and up, it may not be an ideal break, unless your children have a passion for being with mum and dad, sightseeing and long, drawn out, fancy dining.

I do recommend San Marino and a similar experience to ours, just pointing out that maybe you should exercise caution with your child or children’s age and boredom tolerance.

Take Aways

• You probably do need a car to get around on this trip – not San Marino itself, but as its small you will want to visit the surrounding places

• Older children may find it a little boring

• Once the day tourists leave, parking is very easy, after 4 or 5 in the evenings lots of parking spots

• Go to the tourist office to have your passport stamped

• Watch for speed cameras on the road from San Marino old town to Rimini (and vice versa)

• Visit Urbino

• In San Marino old town, many of the restaurants seem to offer a similar gala New Years dinner packages, you have options if you haven’t made a reservation

• The year we went and it seems it is generally the case. There were no fireworks at midnight in San Marino, and no state/national organised event

• San Marino appears very safe; there are no cars in the old town and there seemed to be no issue with petty crime